Lady Jackets Drop 2 To Cook

Jeff Davis High’s softball team dropped two games to No. 1 ranked Cook High School last week, both by scores of 9-7. The games left Cook with an 11-0 record while Jeff Davis fell to 6-3.

But while the scores were the same, the two games were very different.

Last Tuesday in Adel, the Lady Jackets were cruising along with a 7-3 lead going into the bottom of the sixth inning when Cook erupted for six runs to pull out the win.

And Thursday in Hazlehurst, the Lady Hornets jumped out to a 9-0 lead after four innings then held off a furious Lady Jacket rally for the win.

Entering the bottom of the sixth in Tuesday’s game, Jeff Davis led 7-3 and had out-hit Cook 8-5. And the inning started out harmless enough as pitcher Carrie Ellen Arnold retired the first batter she faced in the inning on a ground out.

But then Arnold walked the bases loaded. A 1-run single and a 2-run single got the Lady Hornets within a run at 7-6 with the tying run at second. With that, Head Coach Stephen Wilcox brought on Jaqueline Villasenor who walked the first batter she faced to load the bases. A sacrifice fly to right tied the score 7-7 and the next batter hit a 2-run double to give Cook a 9-7 lead.

Ava Bohannon led off the top of the seventh with a single but the next three batters were retired in order to end the game.

Jeff Davis jumped out to a 1-0, 1st inning lead as Jenna Miles led off the inning with a walk, stole second, went to third on Claire Stinson’s ground out and scored on a wild pitch.

Cook took a 2-1 lead in the second that could have been worse but Miles threw out a runner trying to score from first on a double to end the inning.

In the third, Stinson and Arnold both hit run-scoring doubles to put the Lady Jackets back on top 3-2.

After Cook tied the game in the bottom of the inning, the Lady Jackets seemingly took control of the game with a 3-run fourth. Bentlee Metts and Laisha Hernandez hit back-to-back doubles and, an out later, Jaci Underwood hit a 3-run homer over the center field fence.

Arnold led off the fifth with a solo homer to left to put Jeff Davis up 7-3.

That set the stage for the fateful sixth.

Underwood had a single, a homer and three RBI to lead the offense. Arnold had a double, a homer and two RBI, Stinson had two doubles and an RBI, Hernandez and Metts each doubled, and Bohannon singled.

Arnold pitched 5 1/3 innings, giving up eight runs on seven hits, walking seven and striking out five. Villasenor pitched 2/3 innings, giving up one run on one hit, walking one and fanning one.

In Thursday’s game in Hazlehurst, Cook’s Arnold led off the game with a solo homer over the left field fence. The Lady Hornets got three more runs in the second, two of which came on an error. Arnold walked the first two batters in the third and Wilcox called on Underwood for her first appearance on the mound this season. A passed ball moved the runners to second and third, and a ground out plated another run to make it 5-0. A single scored another run to make it 6-0. A 3-run fourth upped the score to 9-0.

At this point in the game, Hernandez’ 3rd inning single was the only base runner the Lady Jackets had managed.

In the fourth, Underwood and Stinson had back-to-back doubles to get JD on the board at 9-1. After Kira Buford and Kalleigh Sellers walked to load the bases, Metts got a 2-run single to cut the score to 9-3.

Villasenor retired the Lady Hornets in order in the fifth and Miles led off the bottom of the inning with a triple. Underwood followed with a run-scoring double to make it 9-4.

Sellers led off the bottom of the sixth with a double and yielded to pinch runner Madison Joyce.

Ella Wood, batting for the first time this season after recovering from a knee injury, grounded out to short to push Joyce to third. Metts then hit a sacrifice fly to center to score Joyce and make it 9-5. Hernandez followed with a triple but the inning ended with her still at third.

In the bottom of the final inning, a walk, an error and a Bohannon single loaded the bases with no one out. Arnold then lined out to center to drive in a run to make it 9-6. Sellers then singled to make it 9-7 and Cori Mims laid down a sacrifice bunt to put the tying runs at second and third with two outs. But a pop out ended the game.

Jeff Davis out-hit Cook 10-8 and had six extra base hits to just one for the Lady Hornets.

Underwood had a pair of doubles and an RBI, Sellers had a single and a double and an RBI, Hernandez had a single and a triple, Metts singled and drove in three runs, Miles tripled, Stinson had a double and an RBI, and Bohannon singled.

Arnold pitched two innings, giving up three earned runs on four hits, three walks, a hit batter and two strikeouts. Underwood pitched one inning, giving up one earned run on three hits, a walk and one strikeout, and Villasenor pitched four innings, blanking Cook on one hit, one hit batter, no walks and four strikeouts.

Score by innings:

JDHS 1 0 2 3 1 0 0 -7

CHS 0 2 1 0 0 6 x -9

CHS 1 3 2 3 0 0 0 -9

JDHS 0 0 0 3 1 1 2 -7